Blast-Ended Skrewt
s or scorpions *Covered in grey, shiny armour *Males have stingers, females have suckers to suck blood *Aggressive temperament and repulsive appearance *Shoot fire from their rear end |mortality=Mortal |affiliation=Rubeus Hagrid |class=Beast |status=Unknown, possibly Extinct }} The Blast-Ended Skrewt was a magical hybrid beast bred by Rubeus Hagrid in the autumn of 1994, by cross-breeding Manticores and Fire crabs. Blast-Ended Skrewts at Whether Hagrid used magic or somehow got the two different species to mate was unknown. Description Newly hatched Skrewts looked like pale, slimy deformed shell-less s or scorpions. They had legs sticking out at odd angles. They were about six inches long and smelled strongly of rotten fish. Sparks flew out of their rear ends every so often, which propelled them forward a few inches. The males had stingers and the females had suckers on their body to suck blood. The skrewts do not hibernate during winter. After about two months, Skrewts grew to about three feet long and became extremely ill tempered, making it hard to get close to one. They grew grey, shiny armour over their pale bodies and began to resemble a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs. The males held their stingers over their backs, and were highly dangerous and repulsive. After several months, Skrewts grew to about ten feet long, and were incredibly dangerous (and probably quite lethal). They resembled giant scorpions with stingers curled over their backs. Their shiny armour deflected most spells, and they used their blasts to propel themselves at a foe. Its single undefended spot was its armour-less underside. History Several of these Skrewts were placed inside the Triwizard Tournament maze, and Harry defeated one of them by using the Impediment Jinx on its underside. Hagrid began breeding the Skrewts at the beginning of September, and had several hundred. By the following June, he only had one, which was the one that was placed in the maze. Hagrid never discovered what they ate. They often killed each other off, so it is not surprising they died so quickly. It is unknown what became of the last Skrewt. Rita Skeeter claimed that the Daily Prophet had a zoological column every Wednesday and said that the Bang-Ended Scoots could be the event that day if Hagrid gave an interview. However, the Skrewts never did feature in the Daily Prophet's zoological column. In June 1996, following the Stunner attack on Minerva McGonagall by Dolores Umbridge and other corrupt British Ministry of Magic officials, Ronald Weasley suggested feeding Umbridge to a box of starving Blast-Ended Skrewts as an appropriate punishment. Harry Potter thought the idea "had its merits." Behind the scenes *The Skrewts appeared to be massive violations of the Ban on Experimental Breeding, but Hagrid was never charged for it. This may be because Hagrid eventually had some placed in the Triwizard Tournament, possibly indicating his intent to breed them for that purpose. *In the video game adaptation of , Skrewts are encountered as enemies in several locations, rather than just being found in the maze during the Third Task. The Skrewts have sexual dimorphism: males and females are red- and orange-tinged, respectively. Also, they bear little resemblance to their description in the book. *In the DS version of , there are some Skrewts trying to kill Buckbeak, so the player has to cast spells on them to make them go away. *Harry Potter felt that the idea of a teenage Dumbledore "was simply odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt." *Blast-Ended Skrewts are similar to the opposite of an Amphisbaena. An Amphisbaena is a legless, winged, soft-skinned animal with a head at each end, while a Skrewt is a legged, wingless, hard-skinned animal with a tail at each end *A Blast-Ended Skrewt will appear in Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, being promoted as a creature not seen in any of the films. Appearances * * * * * * * * * Notes and references de:Knallrümpfiger Kröter es:Escreguto de cola explosiva fr:Scroutt à pétard ru:Соплохвост pl:Sklątka tylnowybuchowa pt-br:Explosivim Category:Beasts Category:Care of Magical Creatures Category:Creatures affiliated with fire Category:Hagrid's pets Category:Wizard-bred creatures